Communication devices such as cellular telephones have become a necessary tool carried by almost every member of modern society. The portable nature of the device has led to a market trend to make the device smaller and therefore less cumbersome to carry no matter what the dress or situation. The miniaturization of the device has continued on all fronts, including connectors for attaching cables to the communication device such as for providing power to recharge the batteries in the mobile device or connect the mobile device to other computing resources.
A combination of the miniaturization of the communication device and its associated connectors and the heavy cycles of use associated with a device that is used everyday therefore requiring continuous attachment and detachment of the external cables to the connectors has exposed a problem in the design of the connectors. Connectors are traditionally attached to the circuit boards by a soldered connection. Although the soldered connection facilitates a good electrical connection for the transmission of current for recharging or communication signals, the smaller size of the connectors and the frequency of use have produced systemic problems of failure of the connectors because of the mechanical stresses associated with attaching and removing the cable from the connector.
Once a connector has failed, usually resulting in a break of one or more of the soldered connections, the communication device is only viable until the current battery charge is depleted. Attempting to repair a connector is not feasible by the end user and the expense of returning the communication device for repair is usually prohibitive because replacing the connector requires replacing the connector and the attached circuit board. In some cases repair is not possible because of the design of the communication device and a new communication device must be purchased as a replacement.
This scenario is upsetting to the communication device user because the communication device can fail in this manner after relatively little use because of an errant force exerted on the connector because the user became entangled in the cable and pulled to hard while the cable was connected to the communication device. In this scenario, the communication device still operates as intended but its useable life is now limited by the amount of charge remaining in the battery.
Market demand has created the requirement for smaller communication devices with a connector capable of withstanding the greater cycles of use and errant forces associated with a device that is used on a continuous basis. In another aspect, market pressure is also demanding connectors more tolerant of high moisture conditions. The connector is expected to survive the everyday spill of a liquid, such as a cup of coffee, or the splashing of raindrops so attaching the cable to the connector after one of these types of events does not produce an electrical short capable of destroying the device because the fluid was able to reach the circuit board from the connector access port.